COLUMBIA, S.C. - Gardner-Webb’s fans were out in force from just two hours away and howling. The Bulldogs built a double-digit edge in fewer than 10 minutes. Viewers from around the country likely tuned in at the sight.
Pressure weighed down on the floor. “It was just intense. That's the reality of it,” Virginia coach Tony Bennett said.
And every single person around the college basketball world shared the exact same thought. Again?
That included UVA’s players too. The only one seed to ever lose to a 16 after last season’s stunning upset at the hands of UMBC knew exactly what was happening and blocking it out wasn’t really realistic.
“100 percent yeah. I’m sure it was running through everyone’s mind. How could it not?” Cavalier junior Kyle Guy said. “But I think we showed the growth from last year to this year. Even though it was running through our mind, we didn’t panic. We stayed level-headed and got the win.”
Level-headed, but not complacent. The Hoos (30-3) knew that they needed to be urgently calm. After all, waiting too late to try to fuel a comeback or thinking everything is just going to work out will eventually slide into panic if no ground is gained. UVA saw that exact thing happen a year ago when a game still within reach despite poor play quickly dissolved into uncharacteristic shots, defensive breakdowns, and panic in the face of history.
Guy, who has labeled this team’s resilience this season with the phrase ‘calm is contagious’ many times, said at his locker after the game that he absolutely sensed the need for urgency. Not that anyone watching needed words to confirm the increase in intensity and execution from the Hoos. Guy made that clear with his play on the floor midway through the second half.
Shortly after the Bulldogs took a 30-16 lead, a 14-point deficit that matched UVA’s largest of the year, Guy ripped off 6 of his 8 points in the game. First, he drained a 3-pointer. Two possessions later with the lead down to 10, Guy grabbed a rebound off a Ty Jerome 3-point attempt, Guy snared an offensive rebound in traffic and got fouled. He made both ends of the 1-and-1 free throws. After a Kihei Clark steal on defense, Guy drove quickly against unsettled defense and got to the line again where he made another free throw.
That little 7-0 run settled things down and Virginia eventually dominated in the second half. Calmly urgent.
“Calm is contagious doesn’t mean you just lay back and think everything’s going to be OK,” Guy said. “It means when you’re walking through the storms, relax, calm down, and play our game. Don’t feed into the hype or anything like that. I think we did a great job of that the entire game. I don’t think you saw one person panic on the floor today. I thought we played our asses off and I’m real proud of the team.”
With the lead down to 36-30 by halftime, UVA entered the locker room, steeled its nerves, and collectively understood that it needed to turn that late first half run into a more fierce second half. There were no grand speeches or shouting spells from the coaches. No slamming lockers or pounding fists.
The Cavaliers knew what was at stake and they knew the response that was needed.
“I mean, I remember last year, halftime against UMBC, one of our coaches came in screaming at us, and we ...” Wahoo guard Ty Jerome said before his coach interjected to laughter “I was out there doing an interview. So it wasn't me,” Bennett joked.
“We felt their panic last year at halftime, and that was one thing I remember, not doing a good job keeping everyone calm. That's what I pride myself on, too,” Jerome said. “Every timeout, it's just a matter of keeping guys calm, keeping guys calm, but also keeping our edge. You've got to find a balance. You can't come out, everything's going to be okay, stay calm. Just trying to find the right balance of staying calm and keeping our edge.”
Virginia certainly had a different edge to its emotions in the second half. From body language to defensive aggression to vocal excitement all the way down to outright emotional fire, the Cavaliers let it all out. It was almost a release of lingering demons and doubt in one ferocious roar.
And it started in earnest from one of the quietest sources.
UVA had chipped away further at the deficit early in the second half when Jerome caught the ball in the high post when GW switched to zone and found De’Andre Hunter behind the defense for a thunderous two-handed jam. Hunter harmonized the thud with a scream.
Moments later, Kihei Clark tracked down an offensive rebound, drove, and found Hunter for an and-one play at the 16:16 mark to give the Hoos their first lead at 39-38. This time, Hunter turned to the bench and let out a mighty yell and the entire UVA contingent erupted in response. He celebrated with Jerome on his friend’s 3-pointer shortly after that and by the time his own long 3-pointer fell through to push Virginia ahead by double digits for the first time at 52-41, Hunter and the Hoos were absolutely fired up. Hunter turned and gave the 3-point sign and and Jerome waved his arms too.
“He doesn’t play with a whole lot of emotion so when you see that out of a guy that has wanted to play in this tournament for two years now, it’s a tremendous boost,” Guy said.
Hunter’s fire helped fuel a 22-5 run to start the second half and Virginia eventually dominated the final 20 minutes 41-20, a number dressed up a bit by two inconsequential GW 3’s in the final minute as well. The Cavaliers ended up with a balanced attack that shook out with Hunter (23 points), Mamadi Diakite (17 points), Jerome (13 points), and Guy (8 points) topping the chart. They also squeezed Gardner-Webb defensively by allowing 32% shooting after halftime, a number again boosted from 25% by those final two shots.
Still, burying any fears of a repeat upset was fueled as much by the calm urgency and emotional fire as anything Friday. That’s something the Hoos know they need amidst the madness.
“Just being energized,” UVA’s Braxton Key said. “I think that’s one thing - we’re a really calm team and sometimes that can be a curse for us just because we’re so calm, but I think today showing some enthusiasm, showing some aggression, showing some happiness for the other guys, and just being hype definitely rubbed off around everyone. It was a different game in the second half.”
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